Innocence - A Journal of The Untold Stories
by ThexWhitexPhoenix
Summary: A series of one-shots based upon Innocence Redone. Coverphoto belongs to EzariaUmiko on DeviantArt.
1. Dummy

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim, Mirai and Arata belong to TWP.**

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The Moby Dick was filled with rowdy drunks, cheers and vulgar songs echoed in the air in celebration of new crewmembers, said newbies being the loudest and drunkest, well, with the exception of the green haired girl who had one pirate in a headlock while greedily gulping down the rest of her booze, much to the amusement to the rest of the crew. This was the second fight she had gotten into the last few hours, the first having happened in the afternoon, right after they had started partying for their new comrades _with _one of the new crewmembers.

"You ghive uhp?" She tried her best not to slur, but it proved to be futile. The only consolation was that the pirate she had in a headlock nodded vigorously, face dangerously blue as he gasped for air before she released him. He fell to the ground coughing and trying his best to get air back in his lungs, having the help of a friend who patted his back. He glared at the girl who ignored him, either on purpose or because she was drunk out of her mind.

"I win!" Mirim shouted gleefully, throwing her arms up in the air in a victory pose, ignoring the booze she sent raining over the pirates close to her. "I'm sho awesome!" She kept on yelling as she danced, or rather stumbled, around as she basked in her victory. The men who watched laughed as she tripped over a foot which was stuck out in front of her and the volume only heightened as she did not even attempt at catching herself when she fell flat on her face. The scowl on her face did nothing to quell the laughter, seeing as her nose was an angry red from its intimate meeting with the wooden floor. It was just too ridiculous to look at, none of the crewmembers felt threatened. She turned towards Marco, hoping for some support, but one look at the commander told her that he was one of the men who laughed the most, as usual. Seriously, the moment she began to drink he stopped protecting her and just started to laugh at her.

"Assh-hic-holes!" She glowered as she, with great difficulty, managed to get up on her feet. The world spun and she cursed the ocean right then.

"Schtupid waves mahking the ship rock." She growled as she stumbled away from the party, walking in zig-zag as her comrades blinked owlishly after her before erupting into laughter again. The ocean was completely calm, the Moby Dick was not even rocking in the slightest. Oh the girl was always the best amusement when she had a bit too much to drink, there was no denying that. Mirim continued on though, her pride absolutely refusing her to lean against the walls or even use the railing as support as she left the party, grumbling beneath her breath about drunk pirates, stupid big brothers and stupid waves making it ridiculously hard to stay on her feet until she walked straight into someone's back.

"Uff, what the 'ell?" She rubbed her sore and throbbing nose before looking up to meet Ace's surprised face. He knew her name, she was one of the many who had found amusement in his attempt at taking out Whitebeard, he just couldn't recall it at the moment. What was her name, come on he knew her name, she was one of the few women who weren't a part of the nurse-pack for god's sake…

"Mirim, right?" She squinted at him, trying to place a name to his face, but while she had been watching his assassination attempts at her captain for months she was too drunk to remember his name at the moment and instead focused on the fact that he was a new crewmember, not present at the party which were held in his and his friends honor, and that he did not look nearly drunk enough for her taste.

"What are you doin' here? The party's over there, dumass… dumbie… dumbassh." That last attempt at an insult was close enough and she crossed her arms.

"Just enjoying the fresh air…" He said but trailed off as he saw how unsteady she was on her feet. Was she going to fall over? She looked dangerously close to lose consciousness, as drunk as she was. The red flush dusting her cheeks and golden eyes unfocused was all signs that she was not exactly okay. Hell, she had trouble standing straight becausewaves which did not even exist rocked the ship too hard.

"You okay?" He asked carefully, seeing how the red flush intensified on her cheeks and her eyes narrowed. Maybe she was an angry drunk.

"Pfft, I'm fhine!" She said as she almost fell over the railing. He jumped forward to grab her, but she waved him off, attempting to casually lean on the wood she glared angrily at. "Schtupid waves." Ace was not sure whether he should laugh or worry about her finally falling into the ocean. He sure as hell could not save her, as he had devoured a Devil Fruit and thus lost the ability to swim. When she suddenly turned quiet and actually stood still, looking out over the ocean with a dreamy gaze he was reminded of the night he overheard her and Whitebeard talking about her own parents. The green haired girl was a lot like him, having had mothers who gave up their lives so that they could live on…

He wondered if she had been as hateful towards the world as he had been when she was a kid.

He looked up from his deep thoughts as he heard the volume of the crew's cheers grew louder and a small smile tugged his lips.

Probably not.

She had been surrounded by a cheerful crew who loved her dearly, and had raised her as one of their own, while he had been with mountain bandits who, admittedly had taken care of him until he was strong enough to take care of himself. Well, he would lie if he said he missed Dadan and the bandits but… they had done a lot for him, in the end. Still, there was one thing he and this girl had in common.

"We're kinda the same, you know." He said and rested his arm on the railing. She looked up at him, brows furrowed as she struggled to follow him. "The both of us…" How to best breach the subject? He had seen the girl in action, it didn't take much to rile her up, to piss her off on such a scale even he wanted to run away. Maybe talking about this while she was drunk was not a wise move? Maybe he should wait until the next day? But he really wanted it out of his system. He was not feeling particularly cheery at all, he needed to talk to someone, not finish the bottle he held in his hands. Mirim stared at him, the flush having died down a bit and she seemed to actually be listening, as if she wasn't drunk out of her mind. Maybe she had sobered up, maybe she knew what he was talking about…

Mirim stared at the boy in front of her. She was really sure she knew his name, but couldn't recall it, for the life of her she couldn't remember a single name. It annoyed her and it was hard to keep up with what he was saying. Though when he said that they were the same she wondered if maybe he was more drunk than she had thought him to be. Maybe he could just hide it well. There were two possibilities though: Either he was just blind and stupid or he was really drunk. She opted to believe the latter. Still, she needed to clear this confusion up, before he said something stupid to the others which she didn't want them to hear. After all, the boy was in the second division, the same one she aimed to join. She couldn't allow there to be stupid people in that division. Ace was about to dismiss the whole conversation when suddenly-

"Pfffft!" She began laughing. "We're not the same, dummy!" He was thrown off balance by her sudden declaration and felt rather indignant that she had just laughed at him. Then her hands moved to her chest and squeezed. His eyes bulged out and he did a double-take, gaping at her.

"I've got boobs, you don't, silly boy… man… thing… man." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it was, but that wasn't what he had meant when he told her that they were the same kind of people, nope, not at all.

"You're drunk Freckles!" She declared then. "No more booze for you!" She grabbed the bottle and yanked it out of his hands, chugging down on what little was left before she grabbed his belt-buckle, ignoring the droplets which trailed down her chin as she proceeded to drag him back to the party. She also ignored the hands which held a tight grip on her own, trying to stop her from yanking the belt off of the man she dragged.

He wore the belts for a reason!


	2. Monsters

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim, Mirai and Arata belong to TWP.**

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Marco had told her many times that there weren't monsters beneath her bed. Thatch had told her many times, mostly times when she pulled pranks on him, that there _were _monsters under her bed ready to steal her away whenever she did something bad. While she really wanted to believe Marco the most, right now, in the middle of the night, it was much easier to believe Thatch.

The shadows stretched across the room, towards her, ready to grab a hold of her and pull her into the monsters not-so-inviting embraces. She did_ not_ want to be in their clutches. She had to run, she had to find a safe place and the safest place on the ship was with her big brothers and captain. But Marco had been none too pleased the last time she had barged into his room in the middle of the night. She could go to Thatch's room, he was the one who scared her so he could very well take responsibility for it!

She crouched beneath the covers, ready to sprint off. The monsters must have realized what she was planning, for the shadows suddenly stretched faster.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths, the shadows were at the feet of the bed now, four breaths, five breaths, they reached for the covers.

"Now!" She exclaimed and jumped. Her door slammed open as she threw herself at it and she could hear the roars of the monsters behind her. They were gaining on her fast. Screw running to Thatch's room, it was too far away, she would never make it. She had to shorten her distance to a safe place and spotted Marco's door.

'_Sorry, Marco-nii.'_ She thought and leaped forwards, hands grasping the handle, shoulders scraping against the wood none-too-gently as she slammed the door open. The first division commander was quickly up on his feet and swept Mirim up in his arms. She yelped, because it wasn't a comforting hug she was getting from him. She hung from his arm which was tucked under her stomach and he marched towards his own door and out.

"Marco-nii, please, don't take me back!" She flailed around as he carried her down the hall and towards her own room. He had had enough. He was tired after having had her barge into his room for several years, he just wanted to sleep, and that wasn't easy with Mirim taking all of the space. It had been easier back when Thatch told her about the monsters for the first time, but now this was just getting ridiculous. He had let this go on for too long. He should have ended it back then, after having thrown Thatch off the ship in his frustration and yelled at him to stop scaring the girl. He had hoped it would end there, but it didn't. It just grew worse. But now she didn't really need him to check under her bed any longer.

She may be his sister, but she wasn't his responsibility right now. He kicked open a door and marched in, watching as Ace lurched out of bed, seeming to be half-asleep. He couldn't blame the boy for being confused at the forceful entry, but right now he was too tired to give a fuck. He hoisted Mirim up by her sash and threw her at him. The girl collided with the boy and they both tumbled back onto the bed, Mirim with a squeak and Ace with a grunt. He had not anticipated having his subordinate thrown at him.

"Oh come on, Marco-nii! It was a joke!" Mirim cried out indignantly at the blonde who stared back at her, unimpressed.

"In the middle of the night, yoi?" She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Back in the day you would let me sleep with you."

"You were nine, yoi." Marco was tired, so very very tired, and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "So?" Mirim argued. Ace had managed to sit up and was rubbing his chest. Marco hadn't thrown his sister as gently as one would have thought and the girl wasn't exactly light… well she wasn't heavy either, but everyone was heavy when they were deadweight, even if it was just for a moment.

"You're seventeen, Mirim, yoi…" The second division commander was clueless as to what was going on. He could piece together some of the conversation, but that didn't exactly explain to him why Marco had brought his little sister to his room and thrown her at him. There wasn't any underlying message there; after all, the older man would glare threateningly at any man who dared venture close to the girl with less than innocent motives.

Not that Ace was interested in the girl like that anyway. She was purely a comrade.

"Marco-nii, it was a joke. I know monsters aren't real. It's still just fun to barge in at night. Actually, it's fun watching you throw Thatch-nii overboard."

"You're old enough to do that on your own, yoi. And it better not scare you anymore either. Jaysus, you're a grown woman." And with one last tired glare Marco trudged out of the room, shoulders sagged with exhaustion. For a moment Mirim almost looked guilty as she turned towards Ace and shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry Commander. Didn't think he'd drag me here."

"It's alright." Ace said with a wave of his hand. "But I didn't know you were pulling pranks in the middle of the night. Were you really afraid of monsters when you were a kid?" He grinned at her and she blushed in embarrassment though she quickly hid it behind a nervous cough.

"I always pull pranks on people. Thatch-nii told me bad kids get kidnapped by monsters when I was little, of course I was a little afraid, it's normal."

"A little?" He teased and she punched him in the arm. "Shut up, I was a kid!" She refrained from using the phrase 'little girl'. It made her feel inferior, and tiny and she was far from both. Then she yawned, as she realized she was tired from a long day as well and needed to go to bed herself. Ace chuckled at her yawn and ushered off of his bed.

"Go on then."

"Marco-nii always checked my closet and under my bed for monsters."

"That was nice of him." It was a really brotherly thing to do and Ace would not put it past the older man to do something like that. Family was important. Ace always believed that and it was made clear to him that everyone on the ship shared that same philosophy.

"Yeah it was." She said with a grin before she pointed to the door. "But seriously, I need you to check so I'm sure it's safe, Commander." He blinked owlishly at her.

"Are you fucking serious right now?"


	3. Hangover

**Not exactly funny, and not long either, but it shows how reckless Mirim was.**

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim, Mirai and Arata belong to TWP.**

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The goddamn infuriating sun was coaxing her out of her sleep which was the complete opposite of what she wanted. She wanted to sleep more, not get up and slave under the goddamn heat all day. She began to wonder how the hell the sunlight was getting into her room anyway. She had thick black curtains which she was pretty sure she had pulled shut the evening before. The sun should have been completely shut out, if Ace and Thatch hadn't decided to be assholes and open the curtains just to annoy her.

That actually seemed to be the most likely explanation.

She was going to fucking kill them, once she could get used to the light… and once her head would stop pounding. It felt like someone was hitting her full force with a sledgehammer. She strained to open her eyes and slowly turned her head towards the windows, only to groan at the sight.

The curtains were in a heap on the ground. It looked like someone had walked straight into them and pulled them with whomever it was that tripped over their own feet while walking past.

Well, that explained the sunlight seeping into the room. The headache which she had momentarily forgotten returned and she dug her face into her pillow.

"Ugh…" She paused. That was not her. She lifted her head again and turned it in the opposite direction.

"Marco-nii… what are you doing in my bed?" Marco blinked his eyes and stared at her in confusion before he groaned again and let his arm fall over his face in a vain attempt at blocking out the sun. She raised herself up on her elbows and saw Thatch sprawled out beside her closet and Ace at the foot of the bed, head tilting to the left as he snored loudly. Now that she was aware of them being there, and aware of her commander's snoring, she realized how loud it all was and how it affected her hangover.

"Stupid snoring." She whispered and rolled over, planting the pillow over her face. Marco nodded, though she couldn't see it and when it was made clear that Ace's snoring could _not_ be blocked out by the pillow she threw it at him. His head lolled forward, but the volume increased instead of decreasing.

"You trying to kill me here, yoi?" Marco complained and she weakly swiped at him. "It hurts me too!" She hissed back as she crawled to the end of the bed, ready to push the freckled man to the ground and wake him up when she saw them. Two unopened bottles were right beside Ace and she almost squealed with joy as she grabbed one of them. At least this would ease it up a bit even if she shouldn't be drinking anymore. What she should be doing was getting up, regretfully, find Doc and have him give her a few painkillers. While that was the most logical option for a normal person, and probably the best one too, she really wanted to avoid the lecture that came with the medicine.

The lecture was worse than Ace's snoring, and that was saying something.

So of course, according to Mirim's logic, drinking more booze was the most logical answer.

And now she had booze, and she would damn well drink it, despite it not being exactly cold and refreshing. She was going to enjoy this.

"Give me." Marco reached out for the flask and she swatted his hand away.

"My room, my stuff."

"It's Ace's, yoi."

"Which means it belongs to the Second Division, which I am a part of." Mirim replied sagely and her brother scoffed before leaning over and pushing Ace away while grabbing the second bottle. The second division commander fell over and grunted as his face had an intimate meeting with the floor.

"You guys still drinking?" Ace said incredulously while rubbing his forehead. He couldn't remember much of what happened the night before, but as he looked around it was clear that they were in Mirim's room.

"Unlike you guys I'm not a total pussy when it comes to alcohol." Mirim smirked at her commander though that quickly slipped off her face as Marco spoke.

"She's just trying to avoid going to Doc for painkillers."

"Shut up…" She grumbled and turned away from all of them. Stupid brother and stupid commander, laughing at her misfortune. She was a pirate, she was allowed to drink, she was allowed to have hangovers and she was damn well allowed to avoid the ship doctor if she wanted to.

"You make too much noise…" Thatch groaned from his spot by the closet, his hair ruffled and not in its usual hairdo. It was a rather bizarre sight since the fourth division commander never showed himself without having the pompadour look flawless.

"Thatch-nii…" He looked up to see the other three stare at him, speechless. "What?"

"Your hair looks nice." He frowned in confusion, not quite getting what Mirim was talking about and moved a hand to his head, scratching the back of his head when he realized it. His hair had fallen down and was getting in the way the moment he realized it was no longer in its usual pompadour style.

"Oh no! No, no, no!" The three pirates were rather surprised that the fourth division commander suddenly began to panic as he tugged on his hair, frantically looking around for a mirror. He sprinted in front of the full-size mirror in Mirim's room, and desperately tried to put his hair up in the pompadour again, but failed no matter how hard he tried his hair simply fell back down.

"Oh god! Give something to hold my hair up!" Mirim glanced at Marco and Ace before shrugging and rolling over to her night table and pulling out her drawer, grabbing an item and throwing it at Thatch who immediately emptied the object of its contents and applied it on his hair. It didn't work and now it felt greasy.

"Another!" Again Mirim grabbed an item from her drawer and threw to her brother though this only served to have the brown color darken.

"Uh, Thatch?" Marco called out, raising an arm towards his friend. That wasn't hair gel Mirim was throwing him, but the pirate was too preoccupied with getting his hair straight again to notice what it was that the girl threw at him.

"Another!" Again she threw an object to Thatch and again it failed to keep his hair up.

"Is that ketchup?" Ace asked Mirim. "Why do you have ketchup in your drawer?"

"No reason." She shrugged innocently and threw another bottle to Thatch. "Hey, Thatch-nii, this should work!" The man practically emptied the bottle all over himself before he stopped. This wasn't right. Nothing that thin could hold his hair up. He glanced at the bottle in his hands and saw that it was an empty beer bottle.

"What the hell?" He turned towards Mirim, glaring at the girl who suddenly pushed Ace forward. The younger man tumbled right into Thatch and the inevitable happened.

Thatch's hair caught fire.

And Mirim ran for all she was worth as Thatch threw himself out of the window. Marco ran after the girl, but wobbled and fell against the doorframe as dizziness grabbed a hold of him.

"What the hell are you doing, Mirim?" He yelled after her as he watched her run down the hallway.

"I know, I'm sorry!" Marco sagged against the door. At least the girl realized just how bad she had screwed up. She could have really hurt Thatch.

"I wasted booze, I'm so sorry, Marco-nii!" She called and he groaned, slapping his palm over his face. She really needed to get her priorities straight.


	4. Let Me In

I'm sorry, this isn't as good as it could be, but I just came home from work, it's late, I'm tired and about to fall asleep so, please, enjoy this chapter. Next chapter will be better, I promise!

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim, Mirai and Arata belong to TWP.**

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Mirim had always been curious about Ace's past. The man had told her a lot of his pirate life before he joined the Whitebeard pirate crew after they became a couple, but after their call to Luffy and his crew, her lover had grown rather quiet. At first he had been all smiles as usual, but it changed rather quickly. Most nights she would wake up to find him staring out the window, looking rather lost, as if he was seeking guidance from whatever was up in the heavens. She asked him a few times what was wrong, but he only shrugged and told her to go back to sleep, always eluding her questions no matter how much she insisted he told her or said she wanted to help. She grew irritated most of the time and threatened to throw him out the window once, but he only glanced at her for a few moments before turning to look out the window again, completely ignoring her threat and her.

She was surprised, to say the least. Usually he would at least reply.

After that she would only turn in the bed, turning her back to him, letting him know that she was awake, but allowed him to keep to himself. It was cold. The bed was cold, she was cold… She was afraid. After weeks of this behavior though, she had reached her limit. She was not a patient woman; she had never prided herself on being one, but no one on the ship could accuse her for not having tried her damn best. Ace of all people knew that. And he would get a reminder yet again of her personality as he entered their bedroom as the sky turned dark, only see Mirim sitting on the bed, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. He glanced towards the crib, only to see that it was empty. He quickly spun towards Mirim, mouth open and eyes wide, but she cut him off.

"They're with Jozu-nii." He had half-expected her to say Marco, but as long as the children were safe he was satisfied. Still, he wanted to know why they were with the third division commander, and not in their crib.

"Why are they there?"

"Because you and I need to talk!" She snapped. He frowned, not very impressed with her short temper though she could care less. She was beyond frustrated with his behavior as of late.

"About what?"

"About you being an frustrating asshole!" She burst out and he stared at her, speechless for a few moments before replying.

"Huh?! What do you mean, I'm a frustrating asshole?!"

"Oh you know exactly what I'm talking about! For the last two weeks you've been staring out that goddamn window! You don't talk, you don't sleep, you're not there for us- Actually, it's been like this ever since that goddamn phone call we made to Luffy. Want to explain to me why it's like this, huh? Do you?!"

"It's nothing-"

"Tell me it's nothing and I'll fucking break your freckled face! Trust me, I will do it." She said in a low growl and Ace glared back at the furious woman who was patting the space beside her almost violently.

"Now sit, and _talk_." He rolled his eyes but nonetheless walked over and sat down on the bed. He did not talk though and she felt a vein throb before she punched his arm impatiently.

"_Talk_."

He opened his mouth, taking a breath before exhaling and clamping his lips together. He tried again but found that the words eluded him. What did he have to say for himself anyway? What did she want him to talk about? She demanded that he talked to her, but what did she want him to say? He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what she wanted. Could she be a bit clearer on what she wanted? It probably had something to do about him ignoring her at night when she asked what was wrong, but couldn't she just take a hint, let the matter be and go to sleep?

"Why do you want-"

"_Don't _shut me out Ace." He turned to argue, but paused, as he was sure he saw a glimpse of hurt flash in her eyes. "Just don't…" Clenching his teeth, his eyes returned to his hands. Was he really shutting her out? He hadn't thought of it like that, he had just been a bit preoccupied with his thoughts. He was confused, he didn't know what to feel and he had desperately tried to collect himself since a new reality had been revealed to him. He hadn't meant to hurt her, if she really was hurt – no, Mirim didn't play with emotions, not when it was something even she could see was serious.

Wasn't this somewhat the same as when he found out she was pregnant? Wasn't he now acting almost like how he had been that day? This was a different matter though. This concerned only him, not her... but they were in a relationship, they were supposed to be open with each other.

"What do you want me to say?" He grit out, hands clasped together and tightening so bad she could see the veins standing out on his arms and thean way his fingers whitened. Obviously he was confused and found it hard to start. She took his question as a cry for her to give him a starting point. Luckily for Ace, Mirim was not confused, she knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted to know more about Ace, because despite being his lover _and_ the mother of his children, there were many things she didn't know about him. Sure, she knew him, the Ace that was the second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates, her superior, but she knew little of his life before he became a pirate. She deduced that Sabo, the man who was currently with Luffy, was part of the reason why Ace had become so withdrawn as of late.

And that was where she was going to have Ace start.

"This Sabo, start with him. You mentioned him when I asked about your tattoo after you joined up."

'_And you've been distant ever since you spoke with him.'_ Immediately Ace's hand went straight to his upper arm, fingers tracing the ink on his skin, tenderly resting over the crossed out S, before falling down into his lap again. Ace had mentioned the name earlier, when they were younger, before the war and before the kids, but he had never gone into much detail. She had never bothered asking him about it before said man had spoken to Ace over the transponder snail, before Ace became withdrawn. Now she had to make him talk about it, because lately it was as if he was not really there anymore, as if he was so deep in thought that nothing from the real world could reach him and that was not how she wanted him to be when he carried Arata and Mirai.

"Sabo was… no, _is_, my brother." He had eased his grip on his own hands, the color slowly returning to normal as he spoke.

"I thought Luffy was your brother." Mirim said and the corners of his lips tugged a bit upwards. "They're both my brothers."

"The three of us used to train in the mountains back home and cause a lot of trouble in the city. The city… wasn't a good place though, so I guess that's why we caused a lot of trouble there. The nobles behaved a lot like how the Tenryuubito do, except we could walk past them without getting shot." He had not said much, but she could easily deduce that since Ace thought of this Sabo as a brother, he was very important to him. And if someone was important to the freckled commander then they had to be a good person. But then, if he was a good person and important to Ace, why had Ace thought this man had been dead? Why had he deceived her lover?

He continued, and she almost felt he had read her mind as he proceeded.

"Sabo wasn't like me and Luffy. He was born into a family of nobles but some experiences he had as a kid made him different from the rest of them. He didn't like his way of life, so he ran away and then we met. A few years later gramps dumped Luffy on Dadan's door too and after a while he became our friend too." Seeing the wistful smile on Ace's face she knew that this part of his life was something he cherished more than most, a part of his life that shaped him into who he was today and a part of his life he probably missed as well. The smile showed her just how important Sabo was to Ace.

Mirim felt a stab at her chest, but did her best to ignore it.

"We decided to become pirates early, even saving a lot of gold to buy a pirate ship. It ended up getting stolen though, because we got into a bit of trouble with some pirates working for the nobles and Sabo was brought back to his former home. Something happened and a week later, Sabo escaped and set sail." The smile had disappeared and he glared at his hands as he explained what happened later. Mirim was, surprisingly silent during the explanation, letting him talk freely as he remembered the days of his past. He was relieved, yet there were things he couldn't bring himself to say if she did not ask. She was curious, there was no doubt about that, but she felt that the answer as to why Ace had thought Sabo to be dead was right around the corner and thus, she let him continue without interrupting him.

"The very day he escaped was the same day the Tenryuubito came for a visit, and because he was out on the ocean at the same time as them, they attacked his boat, a tiny fishing boat, and sank it." It pained him to talk about it, even if he now knew that Sabo was alive it still stung to remember that day when he had finally managed to carry Dadan back to the bandit's hideout only to hear that Sabo had been killed while he had been tending to Dadan after the nobles burned the Grey Terminal. Mirim turned her gaze from him, looking down at her knees. She felt bad for having him tell her this, but she had to know, because he had literally been ignoring her when she spoke to him even if he wasn't conscious of it himself and that had to stop. They were in a relationship and had kids together, this behavior couldn't go on.

"Oh." She merely said, looking down until he laid his hand on her knee, urging her to look at him again. He smiled, it was slight but it was there and it made her feel a bit better.

"And then suddenly, after thinking he was dead for twelve years, I find out he's with Luffy." She wasn't sure whether he was mad or happy about it, maybe a bit of both. During the call weeks ago he had been so happy he had cried, and then he had smiled for days, until he started staring out the window every night.

"You know, it's so weird, I feel like I should be angry that he kept the fact that he's alive a secret for so many years, but in the end I'm really happy. I'm really happy he's alive." Instead of grabbing his hand, which was warm and tempting on her knee, she wrapped her arm around his neck, hand falling against the side of his head and pulled him down to rest on her shoulder.

"Sounds pretty normal to me." She murmured. "Whenever he manage to get here, if you don't know what to do, I'll be the welcoming committee." He chuckled at her words.

"Should I be worried he'll die for real?"

"Hey, he's a Revolutionary, and considering he's your brother, I doubt he's a foot soldier. Don't overestimate me now." He moved back to look her in the eye then before twirling her ponytail around his hand.

"You're strong, love. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I'm not sure whether you're buttering up to me or telling me the truth." She said suspiciously causing him to laugh again before pulling her close.

"Truth." He said and kissed her. She pushed him back though, leaning back to get a good look at him.

"So you're going to stop shutting me out?"

"I am." She raised an eyebrow, not quite convinced and that made him feel guilty. How out of it had he been?

"I promise. You yanked my heart out of my chest a long time ago, and you're still holding tightly onto it." It was a joke but she huffed in annoyance and swatted him away.

"I'm not a brute, you moron." She said and turned her back on him, crossing her arms. He leaned back on his arms, tilting his head. Had he perhaps gone too far with the little joke? Well, it wasn't exactly a joke. He loved her and he was sure he always would, because she had an iron grip on the blood pumping vessel in his chest. Then she glanced over her shoulder, reluctantly.

"Um… when did I take it?" He grinned boyishly at her, his freckles contributing to his charms all too easily.

"You stole it before I was even aware of it." Such an innocent answer, yet so true she found herself blush and quickly turned her back to him again. He moved to sit behind her and grabbed her ponytail, lightly pulling until she had to rest on her arms as she was looking up at him.

"Mind telling me where you hid it?"

Now it was her turn to grin.

"Now what kind of thief would I be if I did that?"


	5. My Fist, Your Face

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim, Mirai and Arata belong to TWP.**

* * *

The Moby Dick had never had a peaceful time and neither would its successor find any. The new ship was filled with rowdy pirates, an old but powerful pirate captain, sassy nurses and a woman named Mirim. When they began to sail again after having recovered from the war, they had been repeatedly attacked as rookies and fools thought the Whitebeard pirates to have weakened after the battle.

There had never been such a gathering of fools in a long time and the Whitebeards welcomed it. It was their way of easing the pain and frustration of losing a lot of comrades. Then it had been revealed to the crew that Mirim was pregnant and had to be kept out as much as possible from the battles without it seeming to be too suspicious. Then she had to start hiding as her stomach swelled up and after the birth she kept below in the quarters to watch over her newborn children until Doc deemed it safe for her to actually fight again.

And once released she did indeed fight. With a savage glee etched into her face.

But as the nurses took over the task of watching over the babies and both parents participated in the fight, the pirates who escaped their battles began to spread rumors. Rumors about the Whitebeard pirates having an extraordinary treasure hidden below deck that they did not want any other pirate crew to take from them. As the rumors spread far and wide more and more crews, both pirates and marines alike, attacked them much more often than they had in the past, all curious about this treasure the pirates fought so hard to protect. As the attacks kept on increasing, Ace and Mirim stood out more and more as they became more fervent in their desire to keep their enemies up on deck, never letting anyone slip past them. Whitebeard grew concerned, and during every battle he had others protect the entrances to below deck, so as not to give the navy any clues about what might be hidden on their ship.

The navy and government were not filled with only fools. At the top, sharp minds led the whole organization and if they had been able to figure out Ace's heritage, then they would have no trouble putting two and two together. Ace and Mirim had never tried to hide their relationship after they became a couple so Whitebeard did not doubt the new fleet admiral would be able to figure out what was really going on.

And so the months flew by with the pirates getting attacked on almost a daily basis. After six months of fighting and raiding their attackers, the Whitebeards found themselves resting on an island in their territory. They had just docked when the lookout called down to them.

"Ship ahoy!"

"Again?" Mirim sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had always loved to fight, but now she had grown rather tired of it. All she wanted right now was to have some relaxation time with her family.

"Now now, it might just be that they want to get some supplies at the island, yoi." Marco placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's let them get a bit closer before we get aggressive, hm?"

"If they fire even _one_ cannonball at us, I'll fucking sink their ship myself!" The green haired woman growled as she swiped her hair out of her face.

"Calm down, yoi." Marco could understand her aggravation, he was none too thrilled either, but it would do them no good to just attack people without reason. As far as he could tell the approaching ship did not fly a pirate flag. For all they knew this could be a merchant ship and they did not want to scare off anyone who dared to do trade in Whitebeard's territory.

"Ace!" Mirim called as the ship had come considerably closer and still not shown any aggression. "Go get them, would you?" The freckled commander eyes the ship, a bit reluctant, before he descended below deck. The unknown ship docked only a few minutes later, much smaller than the pirate ship, but still quite big.

"Hello there!" A person on the unknown ship calls out and Mirim leans over the railing. "You're the Whitebeard pirates, right?"

"What gave us away? The flag?" Mirim called back, annoyed. The man laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Haha, there was really no need for me to ask, I guess. May I be allowed on board your ship?" Mirim narrowed her eyes, becoming suspicious almost immediately. They had been attacked without pause for half a year, she had all right to be suspicious of strangers she had never met asking to be let on board their ship.

"For what reason?"

"I simply want to talk." The man answered and Mirim paused for a moment, taking the time to glance over at Marco who nodded. Then she turned back to the stranger and waved at him.

"Come on up then." The man crouched before launching himself into the air, landing neatly beside her on the deck of the New Moby Dick. He tipped his hat at her, smiling gentlemanly.

"Many thanks, miss."

"Well aren't you the gentleman." The woman crossed her arms, smirking. "So, who are you looking for, and what's your business?"

"Well, he shouldn't be hard to find. I expect him to charge at me like a bull when he sees me-"

"S-Sabo?" Both the man and Mirim turned to look at Ace, who gaped at the both of them as he held his children close. He had not seen the other for twelve years, and the scar which was probably a result of a bad burn was foreign to the pirate commander, but those eyes… that beaming smile that spread across the blonde man's face was unmistakably, purely Sabo.

'_Sabo!'_

"Ace!" The man exclaimed happily.

"You're- _Wait!"_ Sabo did not have any time to react. The woman grabbed a fistful off his collar and pulled him down to her level, smoldering golden orbs wide with anger.

"_You're_ Sabo?" She ground out angrily, and Sabo blinked. He was not certain how to react to the new development. This woman who now had a death grip on him had been docile only moments ago. Sassy, but docile. Now it looked like she wanted to rip him to shreds. She was breathing heavily, nostrils flaring as hostility practically rolled off of her in waves. Her fist clenched and she felt the urge to punch this man's face in, but then she shoved him away from her, watching with some small satisfaction as he stumbled a bit before she stormed past him, scooped the twins out of Ace's arms and back down the stairs to the quarters. For a moment Ace stared after her before he turned to Sabo, the brother he had not seen in over twelve years, the brother he had thought to be dead half his life.

Then he managed to move his feet.

"Come with me." He simply said and Sabo obeyed silently. It was obvious that Ace wanted them to be someplace alone, private, and Sabo had no objections. They had not seen each other for over twelve years because of the incident back at their home island. The streets were bustling with people who greeted the young commander, who politely greeted them back and carefully avoided the swooning girls who threw giggles and kisses after him. Sabo had expected his brother to be popular and it warmed his heart to see that instead of scorn he received respect and love.

"Yo, Ace! Where are you going?" Someone from the crew called and the commander turned slightly and waved his arm. "Just taking a walk, Moore. Keep watch for me, will you?" The pirate waved back in affirmative and the rest of the walk was pretty uneventful though Sabo could not say he was very surprised when he and Ace suddenly stood in the middle of a large empty and rocky field. He could not feel anything from Ace though, and the other man was standing with his back to him, silent and unmoving and no matter how much Sabo wanted to start a conversation he kept silent.

So many years had passed between their last meeting, so many things had been experienced. He gathered that Ace was trying to find a starting point before they would talk. There were a lot of things that needed to be said and felt, exchanged, before everything could return to the way it used to be.

"I thought you were dead, you know. Luffy cried for days." Sabo would have flinched at the words, if it wasn't for the fact that Luffy had already told him everything. It still stung though.

And Luffy had cried when he told him.

"I know. Luffy told me." Ace nodded slowly, as if he was processing what he was told and was at a loss of where to continue.

"I see…" Everything was awkward and Sabo fidgeted a bit. This was not how he expected this meeting would turn out. The Ace he remembered was always blunt, straightforward. He had expected the other man to burst out a line of questions as he had when they realized Sabo wasn't a kid from the junkyard. Having the raven haired man stand there with his back to him, saying nothing was incredibly disturbing.

"Ace-" He began but suddenly the other man was in front of him, fist pulled back and quickly coming for him.

"Woah!" He dodged, by a hairs breath, and leaped back, gaining some distance.

"You know, I don't really feel like talking. I said I was going to punch your face in and that's what's I'm going to do." Ace said calmly while cracking his knuckles. Sabo grinned and pulled off his hat, setting it on the ground.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say." And he had no objections. Instead, he waited for Ace to discard his own hat and then they charged at each other, fists raised and attacked.

* * *

"You sure you're alright with this, yoi?"

"Not my business." Mirim replied curtly. "That's not something you usually care about, yoi." Her brother remarked and she glanced up from the babies in the crib.

"What's this, Marco-nii? I thought you'd understand it better than I did, since you're a man yourself." The man crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, frowning at her.

"I _do_ understand, I'm just looking out for you too, yoi."

"Thanks, but I can take care of myself, you know. I grew up on a pirate ship, mostly surrounded by men, I know how these things work. You guys have your pride and have to be manly men at all times." She teased.

"Look who's talking about pride, girl. Says the little girl who won't let people see her cry, yoi, among other things."

"Well who the hell wants people to see them cry, huh?" She retorted and he walked over, leaning over her and poking her forehead.

"Not even when it's something to be happy about, yoi." She swatted his hand away and stood up, pushing him away as well.

"Instead of bothering me like a nagging old grandma, why don't you go get my commander, hm?" And suddenly he was outside of the room and watched the door get slammed in his face.

"… Soo, you understand but aren't at all happy about it, yoi…" He muttered but instead of going back in and riling her up more he left the ship to do exactly what she had asked of him. He would take his time though, because he did not want to intrude on whatever moment Ace and Sabo had.

* * *

Their feet dragged across the ground, shaking and barely listening to their orders to move. They had been going at it for hours, they were both exhausted and beaten up so when they threw their last punch it was no surprise when they both missed their targets and fell into each other, collapsing onto the ground.

"You- you done already?" Sabo asked.

"Don't… sound so tough." Ace replied. "You collapsed too… moron."

"Yeah I guess." The glanced at each other before they burst out laughing. It felt so good to have exchanged blows again, to be able to feel the other's existence again. Ace, despite having heard Sabo's voice over the transponder snail, had a nagging doubt in his mind that it was all a dream. Having fought Sabo again, after so many years, assured him that it was very, very real.

And despite his aching muscles protesting loudly, Ace felt great.

"So, am I forgiven?"

"Yeah." Ace said, reaching out and patting Sabo's shoulder as best as he could. "You're forgiven."

"Great." Sabo said and struggled to sit up, but gave up after a few moments of nothing but failures. "Yeah, no, I'm just going to lay here for a while."

"You can't move, idiot." Ace said and Sabo shot a glare at him. "You can't either!"

"Never said I could!" Ace retorted and they glared at each other before they burst out laughing again. It took a good few moments before they had managed to calm down enough to talk again and Ace took the opportunity to ask what Sabo had been doing after he left their home island. And Sabo told him everything, from the moment he woke up on Dragon's ship and to all the training he did after making the choice of becoming strong enough to change the world. He spoke with great respect when he talked about Dragon, and Ace was curious about Luffy's father, because as far as he knew, the enigmatic man was the most wanted man in the world and he had barely shown his face. Sabo told of his journeys, how he had seen a lot of the world, but also how he did not like half of what he had witnessed. Nobles and Navy alike, he loathed both parties, as they robbed the people of their freedom and merely _removed_ those neither had any use for.

"Like how they tried to do with you. I'm glad you have comrades like the Whitebeards."

"Me too."

"I didn't witness it on the screen when they broadcasted it, but I read about it in the newspapers. Luffy got the spotlight along with you and this Mirim girl, along with Iva-san."

"Iva-san?" Ace frowned, not being able to remember who that was.

"Big okama guy, tattoo on his chest, giant purple afro with a crown on it."

"Oh, _that_ guy. He was weird, Sabo." The blonde laughed and nodded. "Yeah, but he's real strong and a Revolutionary like me." Ace would have felt a tiny bit of doubt at Sabo's statement, but he had witnessed the okama fighting in the war. The man was strong.

"Well, it's thanks to a lot of people that I'm still here. My comrades and Luffy, especially."

"I'll need to thank all of them. And this Mirim girl too. I read she just kept on coming back from the dead or something to save you. That's what the newspapers said at least. She lived up to the name Death God" Ace visibly flinched at what he heard. During the time they were recuperating and Mirim was in a coma, he had not bothered to read the papers to see what had happened to the world after the war. He was glad he hadn't either. If he had read that during the time Mirim was still unconscious he would probably have fallen into a deep depression.

"Yeah… She got wounded pretty badly in the war." Sabo noticed how his brother turned a bit quieter and turned to look up at the sky.

"She's kinda my sister-in-law now, isn't she?" He tried to steer the conversation back on happier topics and finally Ace began to smile again. A wide grin that stretched across his face.

"Yeah. The mom to my two kids."

"Twins, man. Really." Sabo chuckled and Ace shrugged. "A lot of work, but we wouldn't want it any other way either. Hey, Sabo, did you ever think I could become a dad?"

"Last time we hung out we were ten years old. Can't say I imagined it back then." The revolutionary replied sassily, but then asked, honestly curious. "How does it feel?"

"Like the best damn thing that ever happened to me." Ace replied without hesitation.

"Good to know." And it was. Sabo was honestly happy for his brother, happy that the raven haired man finally seemed to be a bit more at peace with his existence and his blood. He imagined that the past Ace would not have been all that happy with having children, because of how he did not like his own existence.

"She's really something, huh?" Ace glanced at Sabo, curious. "What?"

"This Mirim. Me and Luffy tried so hard, but you still didn't like your heritage or even yourself for that matter. Then she comes and you're all sunshine and happy. She's really something."

"It's not like that…"Ace frowned. "It's more like… She didn't make me like myself any more than I did… all she did was tell me, and I quote, that _she didn't give a shit who my parents were, that she didn't give a fuck what the world thought of me _and then she gave me something more to live for other than my own goals and friends. You're all important to me, you're my first friend and brother, but she gave me a family of my own blood. I'm not saying that you guys are less important, you're damn well _just_ as important, but it's just…"

"It's just what?

"I just…. I … I never thought I could ever be a part of something so beautiful."

"Ace…" Said man turned towards his brother. "You've become a total sap." Another round of laughter passed between the two.

"So, can I meet them?"

"Hm?"

"Mirim and the twins."

"You've already met Mirim. When we get back she'll probably plant her fist in your face."

"Wait! The green-haired chick who looked ready to murder me is Mirim?" The shock coming from the realization had Sabo jumping up and crawling on all fours. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." The second division commander replied with a shrug as he also managed to sit up.

"You found yourself a bloody scary girl."

"She's got a short temper, I'll admit that, but I love her." Sabo stared for a few moments as Ace talked. "We've been friends since I joined this crew and no one except for you and Luffy know me as well as she does. We're a lot alike in more ways than one and she accepts me for what I am. She's the love of my life, simple as that."

"Can't argue with you when I don't know her." Sabo said and scratched the back of his head. "But I still think she seems scary."

"You have no idea." Ace slumped his shoulders and Sabo slapped the back of his head. "Don't look so gloomy!"

"Don't hit me!" And so they began to wrestle with newfound energy until finally, Marco found them and landed in front of them, causing the two to stop and look up at the man who had crossed his arms and was watching them, rather amused.

"Are you about done, yoi?"

"Uh…" The two replied simultaneously before struggling to get up on their feet again, untangling themselves as they went about it.

"Marco, we uh, we were just talking about-"

"About me wanting to meet my brother's saviors, so to speak." Sabo cut in, holding a hand out. "The name's Sabo. Thanks for taking care of Ace here, Mr…?"

"Marco, commander of the first division of the Whitebeard pirates, yoi." Marco accepted the hand with a grin.

"A pleasure meeting you, sir."

"Drop the 'sir', kid. I'm a pirate, yoi. Now, I was told to bring you back to the ship."

"Who told you? Pops?" Ace asked as he dusted off his pants and made a grab for his hat.

"Nah, my baby girl wants you home, yoi." Sabo quirked a brow at Ace who mouthed his lover's name. This confused the revolutionary more and Ace had to explain the circumstances of Mirim's life. How she had been raised by the pirate crew as a little sister and daughter and had stuck with them. As they walked back, Ace saw Sabo begin to fidget and smirked, feeling a tiny bit evil.

"What's wrong, Sabo?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." It sure did not seem as nothing. The closer they got to the ship in the harbor waiting for them, the more he began to sweat. Ace could place a pretty good guess on what was bothering Sabo.

Mirim.

She had been ready to pull his teeth out and shove them up his nose when she realized who he was; Ace could see it so clearly on her face. And while he had forgiven Sabo for having hid from him for twelve years it did not stop him from having a bit of fun at his blonde brother's expense.

"You're sweating. What's bothering you?" Sabo shot him a glare, catching up on what he was doing almost immediately and crossed his arms.

"As I said, brother, nothing." Ace burst out laughing as they walked the gangplank to the new Moby Dick before slapping Sabo's back.

"Don't worry about it, okay? She may have seemed like she was going to kill you, but she's pretty nice, and very forgiving-" Marco, who had been walking in front of them suddenly ducked down to the floor, and the first and last thing both Ace and Sabo saw was two bare feet coming towards them with frightening speed, before planting themselves onto their faces. The two brothers were sent flying backwards and off of the gangplank, skidding across the ground. They lay groaning, their bodies still tired and aching from their battle, until the feet landed firmly in front of them. They both turned to look up, and saw a blank faced Mirim look down at them. She said nothing, and the both of them froze up, staring back up at her nervously, Ace more so than Sabo, because he knew how fickle Mirim's mood could be.

"You two about done?" She finally asked after tilting her head at them, and slowly, Ace got up on his feet as he nodded.

"Y-yeah-" Then another kick came at sweeping his feet out from under him and he fell back. Sabo had managed to get up on his hands and feet, and stared wide eyed as Ace fell back, barely having the time to react as she hauled the blonde up on his feet by grabbing his collar.

"May I have a word with you, Sabo-san?" Then they were gone from view, and Ace groaned as he rolled onto his feet.

"Dammit Mirim…" What would she do now? He was sure she wouldn't kill Sabo, but he didn't think her past beating him up for whatever reason she could conjure up. He tried to use his haki to pinpoint their location but he couldn't find their auras anywhere.

"Where the hell did you guys go?!"

Hours later both Mirim and Sabo walked back onto the new Moby Dick, neither of them looking worse for wear. Sabo only had the blooming bruises he had received courtesy of Ace, and he did not seem to be that worried either. In fact, he looked pretty happy. Ace raised an eyebrow at this. Apparently he had misjudged Mirim on how she felt on the matter.

Still, he was quick to move over and make sure everything was alright. Sabo quickly reassured him that nothing was wrong and that they had talked it out before asking if he could meet his little niece and nephew. And without any arguing they moved down below deck, and Sabo was delighted to see the twins so healthy and happy, so energetic.

"Ah, Luffy would love to meet these two."


End file.
